Category Archives: Sites

Here is a tarted up version of the first geodetic survey around Pentre Ifan and Carningli, in spring 2009. This first saw the light of cyberspace on the skyandlandscape (SL) website. The survey was undertaken with a Wild T16 theodolite, pegs, GPS device and tapes, and it revealed a complex isometric (equal lengths) megalithic structure across the eastern flank of Carningli mountain. The corner ‘points’ of two back-to back equilateral triangles were each marked with significant and large well known prehistoric monuments.

Read on! The PDF is free to go for students, megalithomaniacs, and even archaeologists (for non-commercial use only and the source must be credited). The whole story of this survey is told in a fully illustrated colour book Bluestone Magic –a Guide to the Megalithic Monuments of West Wales, available from this website (see books section for details as to how this book can be rapidly be found landing on your doormat).

These are photos of a large plywood model, and proper hemp corded string. I like the lighting on them and they get the message across in four photographs. People will, of course need to understand that the Station stone rectangle contains an inherent lunation triangle, similarly constructed in units of either one or 8 megalithic yards (an eight year or a one year count respectively) of 2.722 feet, and that its dimensions are 40, 96 and 104 MY.

‘Got those Preseli Blues, everybody’s talkin’, ‘bout those Preseli Blues’ from Those ol’ Preseli Blues‘, recorded by Bettws y Smith, and the Bluestones (Paramount, 1923)

It appears you can get away with almost anything in contemporary archaeology. One can for once agree with Jacquetta Hawkes who reckoned that ‘Every generation gets the Stonehenge it deserves’. In this generation one may gain permission to dig the hallowed turf of Stonehenge itself provided you have a theory that is zeitgeisty enough to woo the public. But does it hold water?

I am, of course, talkin’ ‘bout my gg..g..g.eneration of archaeologists, the Geoffrey Wainwright Experience, with Geoffrey himself on Mediaphone, accompanied by Tim Darvill on Vibes. Their opening track? “Cutting the First Sods for 50 Years at Stonehenge”

Compared with anything that has gone before in recent Stonehenge history, this ‘New Improved’ theory of why the bluestones were so important to the builders of Britain’s National Temple must appear as pure affrontery to ‘the lunatic fringe of dotty archaeology’, who have always thought that, free from the dogma that lurks in academic disciplines, they had sole rights to investigate whatever questions they liked on archaeological matters. In an apparent surge of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ mainstream archaeology now boldly appears to be straying into traditional loony fringe territory. We must welcome them – they may be healed by the process. The media love it, of course, fawning all over the two heroes of this piece of Stonehenge ‘science’. It is the perfect media story. Stonehenge sells – and is thus like a magnet to the media. Everyone knows about Stonehenge (except they don’t really know very much about it at all), it’s a World Heritage Site and it attracts nearly a million visitors a year who all come, pay their £5, and then learn very little about it. Despite all this brouhaha, the monument retains its title as one of the best solstice detectors in the known world.

The Heath Brother’s second survey report on Le Manio, in March 2010, has resulted in the first decent plan for the ‘Quadrilateral’ monument. From this comes valuable evidence suggesting the origin and length of the megalithic yard, showing it to result naturally from ‘day-inch’ counting of sun and moon cycles.
Were the archaeology profession ever to rekindle interest in why these massive monuments were built, this report would provide a major platform in providing sensible answers. For any study of the History of Science, this paper is a must-have bombshell, revealing unsuspected astronomical, geometrical and metrological skills from the prehistoric culture of Europe, prior to 4000 BC. [July 2011, PDF, 19 pages, 4.1 MB, free download]CLICK HERE for The origin of the megalithic yard. [This is a large file. Allow time to download.]
ALSO:FULL SURVEY REPORT OF LE MANIO March 2010
As a result of encouraging feedback and interest in the results from the Heath Bros recent survey of le Manio, the original survey data is now available as a PDF file, free, gratis and for nothing on the S&L website.

This report began innocently enough as a diversion during our Spring 2010 survey (also available on this website). We noticed half a dozen symmetrical stones standing proud from the footpath near theQuadrilatere, at Le Manio. Arranged in a regular arc these stones were recorded and measured. This led to new and significant evidence of lunar astronomy having been practiced at this remarkable and virtually unknown site near Carnac, Brittany.